Silverblade
by Eruannelaviriel
Summary: Padme Amidala has secrets; a secret identity, a secret lineage. When the senate begins to disintegrate before her very eyes, she is swept full-force into the double life she has chosen, and into danger. Takes place between II and III. AU. Pad/Ani.
1. Chapter I

A/N- Ok, I know that this is my _third_ work in progress, but I have so many plot bunnies running around in my head without a leash, I'm trying to get them on paper. Ok, story background: takes place about 2 months after Ep II, but Anakin and Padmé never got married. Anakin did ask, but Padmé said that they should wait. I'm writing this story simply to have fun with all of my favorite characters.

Disclaimer- I own nothing recognizable, just the plot.

Jedi Master Mace Windu strode purposefully through the great halls of the Galactic Senate. His brown robe swishing softly, his well-worn boots beating a steady, quick rhythm on the marble floor, he quickly made it to the dock of Senate Pod D7-A23, where Senator Padmé Amidala was in a heated discussion in the middle of the massive chamber with Senator Sano Sauro, Chairman of Political Defense. "The Jedi were working in _defence!_ If they hadn't collapsed the Hall of Mirrors Canyon on Drescon 7, the platoon of battle droids would have made it to the capital city, thus losing the freedom of your entire planet! If your motives are so sincere, Senator Sauro," She was saying, "then why haven't you given the Jedi permission to defend themselves in a hearing? That _is_ your responsibility, is it not?"

Sano Sauro regarded Amidala with a look that could have melted Hoth. "Yes, it is, but the Jedi should have no right to defend what should not be defended!" He fumed. A murmur went through the other delegates in response to the absurd statement, but Sauro didn't care. Amidala had stretched his patience too far. "The Jedi are a public menace! They meddle in affairs that don't concern them, they are responsible for putting thirty-two senators out of work, and they are a financial vacuum! Seven percent of the Galactic Treasury is spent on the Temple alone, _per year!_ Let alone destroying historical monuments on other planets like Drescon 7! I cannot, with clean conscience, grant permission of defense to arrogant fools!"

_Did he just say that?_ Thought Amidala. _His patience _does_ have an end, after all._ "Chancellor Palpatine," She said, "I believe that something should be done about this! Permission of defense should not be given by anyone so prejudiced, one way or the other!" As she spoke, an message flashed on the datascreen in front of her, sent by Mace Windu, by the pod's dock.

**_Incoming comm message_**

**_Authority code: A024-6G9_**

_**General Mace Windu, Grand Army of the Republic, Jedi Master **_

**I must speak with you in private after the Senate is adjourned. The matter is urgent and very sensitive. Please conclude your proceedings as soon as you can. U.I.M.**

Amidala blinked. _U.I.M. … an Urgent Investigation Matter?_ She looked back up to discover that Sauro was being commanded to attend a formal hearing, basically ending his political career. She sent a message back to Master Windu.

_**Incoming comm message**_

_**Authority code D704-3N0**_

_**Senator Padmé Naberrie Amidala, Naboo, Nubian System**_

**Go to my chambers. I will be there within the hour. The U.I.M. will be discussed.**

Once again, she returned her attention to the Senate Chambers, to discover that her item on the agenda was concluded, and that the only thing going on right now was an argument between a Bothan senator and Devaronian merchant about hyperspace territory. The rest of the session passed quickly, and Amidala soon found herself in the corridor, quickly making her way to her chambers. As soon as she entered her sitting room, Master Windu rose from where he had been sitting on the sleepcouch. "Senator. Thank you for seeing me on such short notice." He said, bowing at the waist. "Is it possible to speak privately, without surveillance?"

"Of course," Amidala called Captain Panaka on her comlink. "Captain, I'm about to turn of the mics and cams in my sitting room. I have a very sensitive matter to discuss."

"Of course, M'lady. Thank you for informing me."

"Now then," She said, after she was done shutting everything off, "What is the urgent investigation matter?"

Master Windu looked grave. "We have received word that Darth Sidious is stepping up his plans. We still don't know what those plans are, or who Sidious is in the Senate. You need to speed up the investigation."

"I'm already doing all I can without drawing unnecessary attention, Master," Amidala said, turning to look out the window at the Corusant sunset. "I'm getting closer, but I don't have a solid enough lead, yet."

"I know that you're doing the best you can, Padmé, and I have arranged something to help you. You have a two-month vacation coming up in a week, and you could use that to your advantage."

Padmé beamed. "Two months? I have two months to stay at home?"

Mace nodded. "Yes, although you won't actually be home for most of it, but you _will_ be out of the Senate for a while."

"Thank you," She said, as she walked with Mace to the door. "I have one more lead that I have to follow up today. It may end up being the solid one I've been looking for."

"Be careful, Padmé," He said, and shook her hand. The final words he said before he left were, "May the Force be with you, Padawan."

Padmé sighed. "Thank you Master, I'm going to need it."

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	2. Chapter II

AN- Ok, I noticed a few mistakes in this chapter, so this is a repost. I'll try to have chap 3 done by the end of the week, but no promises.

Disclaimer- I own nothing recognizable. If any characters, etc. appear mangled, my fish must have chewed on them to counter his frequent attacks of extreme boredom.

* * *

CHAPTER TWO: 

The grand Archives Room of the Jedi Temple was as vast as it was beautiful. Brightly lit shelves full of datacards and old-fashioned, paper books lined the walls of the huge chamber, while kiosks with information computers stood in the center, arranged in neat rows. At one of these kiosks, a young Jedi sat. Her spine straight, her eyes intense behind the white mask she wore, everyone who laid eyes on the young padawan knew that she was on a mission.

"_Spast_!" The young Jedi grunted at her computer. "Why can't I find you?" She grumbled to no one in particular. A few heads glanced over the tops of the partitions. The older Masters gave her a reprimand with their eyes, and the younger padawans looked at her with startled curiosity. Her muttered apology sent them shrugging and returning to their work. She returned to her own work, then, intent on finding what she needed, when a hand on her shoulder interrupted her concentration. She flicked her padawan braid back to its place behind her shoulder, and readjusted the white flimsiplast mask that hid half of her face. She looked up. "Yes, Tru?" she asked.

"When did you get back? I haven't seen you at the Temple in almost a year." Tru Veld, a fellow padawan, smiled. His silvery skin shone in the streaming light from the windows that lined one wall as he stretched one flexible arm around the back of his head to scratch the other shoulder.

"Umm... about an hour ago, actually," She replied, "I'm only here for a day or two before I leave with my master again."

Tru nodded. "I see. Well, in the meantime, do you want something to eat? I was just heading to the cafeteria when I saw you sitting here."

"Okay, just a second," She shut down the computer, retrieved a data chip from the analysis droid, and stood up. "Lead the way."

"What, you don't remember how to get there?" he teased.

Silverblade gave him a good-natured whack on the shoulder. "Hey, you know better than to tease me. Remember what happened last time?"

Tru shuddered. "As I recall, _you _were the one that started the teasing, and _I_ was the one left listening to a lecture from Master Gallia about the perils arguing with women, especially when said woman has a tendency to distract her prey, and use a well-timed force-push to throw people over the waterfall in the Lake Room. It took me three days to get all that water out of my ears."

Silverblade simply grinned and kept walking.

* * *

Later, they were sitting at a small table in the large cafeteria, picking at a gooey, brownish-purple substance that had somehow been deemed edible. Silverblade poked lightly at it with her fork. "Does this stuff even _remotely_ qualify as food? I didn't think the cooks were allowed to poison us."

Tru sniffed it experimentally. "I don't know, but it looks vaguely similar to the ground in a swamp I had to trudge through last week."

"Eeeeww..." Silverblade wrinkled her nose and pushed the plate away. "No way am I eating anything that looks–and smells–like something from a swamp."

Tru waved his fork in a dismissive gesture. "You're just spoiled by all that great food you get in the Senate. Most of it's probably from...whatever planet you're a representative of, I guess. I wish I knew where you're from."

She smiled. "Nice try, my friend, but you know I can't discuss my assignment with anyone who's not on the Council. Even the Chancellor doesn't know about it." She stood up and brushed of a few crumbs from the sleeve of her white unisuit she wore instead of a traditional Jedi tunic. "I should be getting back to my research. Thanks for the company, Tru."

"See you later," He said, gathering their dishes.

"Yeah, later." Silverblade walked toward the door, intent on getting back to the Archives to continue her research. A loud crash sounded behind her, causing her to stop and whirl around. What she saw was Tru on the floor, picking up the duraplast dishes that had been in his hands just moments before. He had apparently just been involved in a violent collision with another padawan. She recognized Anakin Skywalker even before he spoke.

"Are you okay, Tru?" He asked. He bent over, having grabbed a cloth from a nearby table, and tried to help Tru clean up the mess. "I didn't see you, sorry."

Tru shrugged off his offer of help, opting to clean the dishes himself. "Forget about it, Skywalker. I'm fine." Without another word, he finished picking them up and headed for the exit, leaving a slightly frustrated Anakin in his wake.

"Tru, wait!" Anakin started after him, but he was already gone.

Silverblade raised an eyebrow. She hadn't known that her two best friends knew each other. She had never seen them together, and certainly not doing anything that seemed to say that they were friends. "Anakin?" She walked toward him, picking up the wash cloth that lay forgotten on the floor. "What was that all about?"

He just shook his head. "It's a long story, 'Blade,"

"Ooooookay..." She let it drop.

He looked at her again. "When did you get back?"

She rolled her eyes. "Do have any idea how tiring it is to hear that from everyone I see around here?" she teased. "I should just walk around with a sign hanging around my neck that says 'Hello, I got back a couple hours ago, and I'll be leaving again in a couple days'" The jest did nothing to help his gloomy mood. She poked him in the shoulder. "Hey, Skywalker. Why the long face?"

"Nothing," He shook his head again, and turned to leave.

Silverblade wasn't convinced. She put a hand on his shoulder. "Okay, but for the next two days, you know where to find me if you need to, right?" He nodded and walked away. She stared after him, longing to talk to him some more, but he needed space. After everything he had been through over the last few weeks –the rejection of a marriage proposal and the loss of his right arm not the least of them– he probably just wanted some time alone with his thoughts. She sighed deeply, and then returned to the Archives to continue what she needed to do for the safety of the galaxy. It was going to be a long "vacation".

* * *

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	3. Chapter III

A/N- Wow! I updated! Please refrain from fainting or throwing rotten produce. I still need feedback, people!

Disclaimer- If you recognize it, I don't own it. I'm just playing with them and will not harm them...I think...

* * *

The sound of a door chime pulled Silverblade from her studies in her bedroom. She sighed as she felt the familiar presence of Anakin Skywalker on the other side. Donning her mask as she went, she opened the door. "Hello, Anakin," she greeted. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?" She gestured that he could come in.

He did so, and sat on the corner of her bed as she leaned against the wall. "Actually, I wanted to ask a...personal favor...as we're on our mission."

She pushed off from the wall. "The one to Korriban?" she asked.

Anakin nodded, looking uncomfortable. "Since we leave in a couple hours, I wanted to tell you now. I've been to Korriban before, and it was a very bad experience."

Silverblade nodded. "I heard that you had been there, but not what happened."

He ran his gloved right hand through his hair. "It actually has a little to do with that tense moment in the cafeteria with Tru earlier today." He said. "I don't want to go into details, but that mission carries memories of extreme loss for me. Suffice it to say that, when we got back, I had ended up with a good friend dead, another one who never wanted to speak to me again, and a...rival...who left the Jedi Order."

"Tru was the friend that never spoke to you again?" she asked.

Anakin nodded.

"So, what's the favor you need?" she inquired.

"I need you to keep me in line. We may end up getting separated from our Masters, and I need someone to keep me...focused."

"Focused? Why?"

He took a deep breath. "Korriban is the planet of the Sith. Last time I was there, I...heard voices. They were speaking to me, trying to turn me to their path. It makes it hard to concentrate, and may make me very...irritable. I've always been very sensitive to the Dark Side, and it's always calling to me. I don't want to turn, become a monster, but it'll be a very real possibility on Korriban. I need someone I can trust to help me if I need it."

Silverblade sat next to him on the bed. Her heart ached for him, but she kept it hidden behind strong mental walls. It had been the hardest thing for her to reject his marriage proposal, but it had to be done...for both their sakes'. She draped an arm around his shoulder and said, "No matter what happens, you can count on me."

* * *

"Padawan," Mace Windu said in an amused tone as he watched Silverblade pack. "Why do you insist that every outfit you wear while in the Temple be white, silver or grey?"

The young woman smiled and flipped her Padawan braid behind her shoulder. "I do it to keep an air of mystery and...aloofness."

"Did you just say 'Aloofness'?" Mace asked with a raised eyebrow.

"For lack of a better term, Master," She folded a grey unisuit and put it in her survival pack before sitting down on a sleepcouch across from Mace. "The assignment that the Council has given me requires that I wear a mask when traveling as a Jedi and wear a necklace that changes my voice. It would be a bad idea to have more than a superficial friendship with anyone in the Jedi, because it could end up being a security risk, however unintentional the leak of information."

Mace sighed heavily. "I know this is hard for you Padmé, having to keep your distance from everyone," he said, "But you are assigned to do what is right for this galaxy. The Sith have revealed themselves again. We had a suspicion of it even before your—" he stopped, grimacing at the thought.

"...before my father encountered Darth Maul on Tatooine, I know." Padmé finished quietly, not meeting her Master's eyes. She stood and crossed the room to the window. "Sometimes I feel that I will always live in his shadow."

Mace sighed and stood beside her. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have mentioned that. Your father was one of the very best Jedi I have ever known, despite his unwillingness to follow the Council's orders. He broke the Code, but that doesn't mean you should feel ashamed, threatened, saddened, or tainted by his legacy. You knew him as you served your term as Queen, so you should know that Qui-Gon Jinn was a great man, and you are going to be a great Jedi, like him."

Padmé gave a tiny smile. "Thank you, Master," she said. She picked up her survival pack, and reached for her mask and necklace. Putting them on, she shed the identity of Padmé Amidala Naberrie, Senator of Naboo, and became Silverblade, Jedi Apprentice, daughter of Qui-Gon Jinn, and spy for the Council.


	4. Chapter IV

AN- **_I'M ALIVE! _**I am SOOOOOOO sorry for the zillion-month-long delay. Once school started, I was totally swamped. I need to thank each and every one of you for the encouraging reviews, and for the occasional kick in the butt to get this next chapter out. I will do my very best to get the next chapters out on all of my other fics soon.

Enjoy this extra-long chapter in the meantime.

**Thank you, Rose of the Gate, for being the most patient and awesome Beta ever!**

Disclaimer- If I owned Star Wars, Anakin would not have turned to the Dark Side, we would've seen Han Solo without a shirt in the Original Triology, and Banthas would have been cuter. Therfore, I don't own Star Wars. I just want to play, and I'll return everything in good, but well-loved condition. Don't sue, please. I'm poor enough as it is.

* * *

Korriban wasn't what Silverblade had been expecting. As the sleek starship _Firedance _fell out of hyperspace and into orbit around the planet of the Sith, Silverblade and Anakin observed the surface through a starboard viewport. 

_Firedance_ was a beautiful cruiser, a gift to the Jedi Order from Alderaan for their assistance in a serious trade dispute that might have resulted in war if the Jedi had not been called in. A space yacht the size of a Corellian freighter, it sported rooms for each of the four Jedi, a well-stocked galley, a state-of-the-art cockpit, and a common room with a viewport on the entire starboard side, which held the two uneasy Padawans.

"It looks so..." Silverblade couldn't find the right word to describe it.

"Desolate? Barren? Dead?" Anakin supplied. He turned his face toward her and gave a little smirk. "It hasn't changed much since the last time I was here."

Silverblade shivered. This disgusting ball of rock that was slowly passing the viewport was pulsing with Dark Side energy. It made her feel queasy. She braced herself on the bulkhead to catch her breath. "You've been here before…" It wasn't a statement or a question, but the sound of the young woman trying to convince herself. "And you've returned with sanity intact?"

He gave her a devilish grin. "Well, Master Obi-Wan would say that's debatable…" His teasing demeanor changed quickly, though. "I lost many things here, Silverblade. Friends, illusions, innocence…" He shuddered. "I had hoped to never come back."

"I'm sorry for that, Anakin." She started to reach for his hand, but caught herself and settled her hand on his shoulder instead. _Control, Padmé!_ She thought._ You don't want to give away your identity, even to Anakin! _She put her hand on his shoulder, instead. They stood together for a long time, watching the repulsive Sith planet rotate below them.

"I don't need sorrow," he finally said. "I need…a friend who I can trust to stand by me, no matter what happens."

She smiled at him. "I'll do my very best, but I'm not around all that much. I'm usually at the Senate."

"It'll have to do." He smiled back, and Padmé's heart did a little flip. _Stop it! You're a Jedi!_

She gave the slightest of sighs. After she had to refuse marriage to him and after he had told her of his previous visit to Korriban, she was constantly feeling an overwhelming sense of sorrow. "You never really have fit in anywhere, have you?" She winced under her mask. That didn't come out right.

When he stiffened, she knew she had hit a sore spot. "No. I haven't." He stalked away, throwing some excuse about seeing how long it would be before landing over his shoulder. She tried calling after him, but he stubbornly ignored her.

When the hatch closed with a hiss behind him, her heart wrenched painfully. Padmé sat heavily on the couch behind her, took off the stifling mask and put her face in her hands. With everyone's emotions close to the surface—hers included—she would have to take extra care when speaking to Anakin. If she didn't, he might discover her identity. And while she wanted nothing more than to climb into his lap hold him close, her mission was more important.

Mace soon came in through the hatch that Anakin had just disappeared through. He scowled at her lack of a mask and sat down on the couch across from her.

"If it weren't for the fact that you look like you just got trampled by a herd of banthas, I would be shouting at you for your lack of concern for your identity." He said.

"I'm sorry, Master," Padmé put the mask back on. "It was getting stifling, and my head feels like it usually does after a long day in the Senate."

"Mmm…that bad?"

She gave a small smirk. "You have no idea." She stated firmly.

Mace regarded her with a concerned look. "Have you been sleeping properly, Padawan?"

_So, he noticed the bags under my eyes. Great. This is why I sometimes _like_ to wear my mask, _she thought. She shook her head. _No, I haven't slept. Not since I had to refuse Anakin's proposal,_

He put a hand on her shoulder in a fatherly gesture. "We'll be landing in a couple of hours. Do try and get some rest."

"Yes, Master,"

* * *

Korriban was as bland and disgusting on the surface as it had looked from above. Rough brown sand dunes stretched as far as the eye could see, only briefly interrupted by rocky cliffs and crumpled ruins of once-grand tombs of the ancient Sith. The sky was a dull, dusty grey, and the light from the sun was diffused so much that nearly everything seemed to be in shadow. A stiff breeze was blowing, throwing sand in their faces and chilling them to the bone. The occasional cry of a wamprat could be heard from the ruins, but that was the only sign of life. The very dust seemed to radiate death, decay, and evil. 

The four Jedi marched down the docking ramp, onto the dusty soil, and paused. Anakin and Obi-Wan exchanged a glance.

Anakin sighed and his shoulders slumped slightly. "Yeah…just about as bleak and stifling as I remembered."

Obi-Wan nodded. "I used to have a theory that any planet would seem more tolerable the second time around. I seem to have been proven wrong."

Master and Apprentice shared a knowing look. This planet was not a good place.

The four Jedi made their way to the tombs, Anakin and Silverblade walking side by side behind Obi-Wan and Mace. Every once in a while, Padmé would look up at Anakin's face. Most of the time, it was set in a very determined expression. Every so often, however, she saw his focus go distant, as if he was too far inside his own head to see the outside world. It would only last a moment or two, and then he would shake his head, frown, rub his eyes, and get that determined expression again.

It worried her.

She knew what was bothering him. He had warned her about it, and she now felt it for herself: a small sensation, barely noticeable.

It was almost like the very stones that built the tombs were calling her.

She shuddered. She knew that Anakin was much more sensitive to the flow of the Force than she was. To him, it must have been nearly unbearable.

As if sensing her thoughts, he leaned over and whispered. "It's not that bad right now. Stay focused when we get to the tombs, though. That's when the visions start. You can't stop them. Even Master Obi-Wan sees them."

Padmé shivered and pulled her grey cloak tighter.

She didn't want to be here.

* * *

Anakin was right. The visions were worse. 

At first, it was just a sound, or a flash of something moving out of the corner of her eye, but soon it became visions. Her nightmares in living flesh. She would see Anakin's dead body, and she would look to her side to make sure he still walked beside her. He did, but the visions kept getting worse.

The worst came when they passed the entrance to Marka Ragnos' tomb. Her father stood before her, dressed in his brown Jedi robes, hair blowing in the wind. His face was kind, gentle. He held out a hand, palm up, as if beckoning her forward. She stayed put, she knew it wasn't real. His look changed to one of utter sadness. "Dirty," he said.

Padmé blinked. _What?_

"Your blood is dirty. You have been tainted, stained by me. I never loved you. I abandoned you to live on Naboo for the first three years of your life." He said. "Your mother and I ignored you when you came to the temple because you were an unwanted child. You endangered us. Our relationship had been a secret until you were born. You got your mother killed."

She shook her head. _This isn't real. I know he loved me. I didn't know Mamá, but Papá was always kind to me…_ Her attempts to comfort herself were failing miserably. Her father, Qui-Gon, was telling her that she was worthless. She didn't realize she had fallen to her knees until she saw a tear hit the ground in front of her. She hadn't realized she was crying, either.

"You see?" Qui-Gon continued, his face full of disgust and contempt, "I'm dead because you couldn't protect your own people from a bunch of slimy toads in politicians' clothing. Your mother is dead because she couldn't take the stress of keeping our secret."

_No!_

Her chest constricted. It was hard to breathe. Her shoulders were shaking…

"_Silverblade!_ It's not real, 'Blade. Come on." Anakin was the reason for her shaking. He was kneeling in before her, concern in his gaze. As he shook her back to reality, the image of her father faded into the shadows.

Padmé looked up into Anakin's eyes. She sniffled. "I'm sorry, I…"

He shook his head. "You have nothing to apologize for. The first real vision is always the hardest. It brings your inner-most fears to life." He got up and offered a hand to her.

She took it and hoisted herself off of the ground, dusting off her unisuit as she did so. She looked around. "Where are the Masters?"

Anakin frowned. "You were in that vision longer than I thought. They told us to split up. They're heading for one of the bigger tombs, and we're supposed to search this one."

She nodded, already walking. "Did they say what we're looking for?"

"Something about an Ancient Sith holocron. We need to find it before Dooku or his master does, or it could mean big trouble for the Jedi."

"Great," Padmé looked up at the massive structure before her that pulsated with the Dark Side. "So we're walking into the belly of a monster to steal it's offspring."

Anakin grimaced. "Yeah, something like that…"

* * *

AN- **_PLEASE REVIEW!_**


	5. AUTHOR'S NOTE

Hello everyone!

I need to apologize for the continuing delays in this story. I have been swamped with that irritating situation known as "life at the beginning of college" and have not been working as diligently on my stories as a result. I wanted to warn you all that this story is going into hibernation as I re-write it. I can't read the first few chapters without wanting to scream and tear out my hair. Don't worry, it will be better than ever when I'm done.

I really hate to do this, as the story is not even half done, but I feel that I should rewrite the current chapters and write the rest, thus finishing it before I post it. When it is done, I'll post the whole thing, one chapter per day (hopefully) until it is finished.

Please review on this author's note and tell me whether I should keep what I have for now online, or delete the whole thing until it's reposted.

Again, my sincerest apologies, but life does tend to get in the way of my passion for writing.

Eruannelaviriel of the House of Hanauer


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